Take Note

Chilling Out

At the 500-student Nataki Talibah Schoolhouse, a Detroit charter
school, administrators are combating student stress with the relaxation
technique known as Transcendental Meditation.

"Children have a lot of stress," said Principal Carmen N'Namdi, who
founded the school. "Kids used to feel that they lived in a safe world,
but now [they] have access to information only adults used to
know."

The constant bombardment of news and information can put pressure on
students, she notes. "Today, you know everything about politicians,
from their personal lives to their flaws," she said. "We saw the war
[in Iraq] on TV. Now, imagine being 7."

Students also feel pressure from parental expectations, according to
Ms. N'Namdi. Many busy parents, she contends, need their children to
achieve certain things to prove to themselves that they're good
parents.

The school, which began its meditation program in 1997, allows
students 10 minutes of meditation time twice a day to help them relax.
Transcendental Meditation is a nonreligious technique in which a person
meditates using a "mantra," or special word-sound, that only he or she
knows. The practice originated in India in 1957 and was developed by
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Some parents have reservations about the technique, Ms. N'Namdi
said, because they believe it has religious implications. But the
principal, who has been practicing the method for 30 years herself,
said it is designed only to help the body to rest.

A recent study of the technique at the school, in fact, found a
"significantly higher elevation in positive emotional state" among
meditating students. The study was conducted by researchers from the
University of Michigan.

"[Students] have to prepare for a world that has access to them
24/7," said Ms. N'Namdi. "They are going to have to be able to balance
themselves and rest."